What’s inside this issue?

Finance Industry Self-Regulator Warns About Use of “Senior Advisor” Designations - A survey shows people’s misunderstanding of the designations.

Medicare Open-Enrollment Ends December 7^th- Even if you are satisfied with your plan in 2011, you still need to review your plan options for 2012.

The Lincoln Box book review. 1861: The Civil War Awakening – mistitled, it should be “A lot of things up to July 4, 1861” – is still a good read for pro-Unionists.

More Seminars on short notice - the next two Thursdays – in PG and Montgomery Counties

In the interest of increasing my audience, I have broadened the topic to include Elder Law generally, which is a little estate planning, a little guardianship, and a little Medicaid. As us`ual, profound insights, ineffable wisdom, and a few mild jokes on these ever lively topics.

Thursday, December 1, 2011, at Rips Casual Dining, 3809 N. Crain Highway, Bowie, MD 20716

Thursday, December 8, 2011, at Timpano Restaurant, 12021 Rockville Pike, Rockville MD 20850

For either, call or email Sanja Pirsl at 240-403-4300 ext. 106 or sp@ronmlandsman.com to make a reservation and, if your GPS is broken, get directions.

For those of you tired of my political rants, good news: today I will rant about elder affairs. First, a warning from the Financial Industry Regulation Authority, Inc,. (FINRA) about “senior advisor” designations. Also, a short item about Medicare open enrollment ending next week and a Lincoln Box book review.

Finance Industry Self-Regulator Warns About use of “Senior Advisor” Designations

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issued a report earlier this month warning of problems in the financial services industry with “senior” or “retirement” counseling designations. FINRA reviewed firms’ administrative practices and conducted a survey of people’s understanding of the designations. As summarized by the AARP public policy institute:

Financial services sales professionals use certifications or designations to differentiate themselves. They use so-called senior designations to show they are experts in retirement investing or investing by older customers. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) maintains a listing of designations on its website, but it is not all-inclusive.

The criteria to obtain different designations vary widely. Only 17 percent of the designations listed in the FINRA database had some sort of public disciplinary process, and a little over half allow investors to check the status of a person holding the designation online. Individual consumers can be confused by these designations. Respondents to a FINRA survey had trouble differentiating between a fictitious designation and real ones.

The problem starts with what training is behind the title, whether there are on-going education requirements, and what kind of enforcement of professional standards are employed. InvestmentNews.com had an interesting exchange. First, it reported this (rewritten for clarity):

According to Finra's survey, the chartered adviser for senior living (CASL) mark from The American College was the most popular senior designation among broker-dealers, with 50% of firms using it. The American College's CASL requires about 250 hours of study, which is a turnoff for some advisers. “Some say, "I don't want to sign up for that. It's too long,'” Investmentnews.com quoted a state official.

“Some [designations] are very rigorous ... and some are what we call "weekend designations,'” obtained by attending a hotel seminar, he said. “The challenge has been that consumers don't know the difference,” he said. A third of the firms surveyed don't allow brokers to use any senior designations, but that tendency to play it safe and not allow specialized training “is a perverse outcome,” Mr. Hickerson said.

One competing designation – Certified Senior Advisors, issued by the Society of Certified Senior Advisors – has coursework that is taught in-person over three days or can be completed online over six months. Its founder, Edwin Pittock, claimed “I don't know why the [brokerage firms] do what they do,” in refusing to allow use of designations like his.

He said that the CSA isn't a financial designation, so the majority of newer enrollees offer home care, elder law and/or tax services. “We try to teach people how to be a resource to help the senior find the right place for whatever their needs are,” Mr. Pittock said.

In response, an unnamed financial advisor pointly responded to Edwin Pittock and his comment that his CSA designation “isn’t a financial designation.”

REALLY, then it's time to stop financial services representatives like insurance agents and brokers from abusing the trust of senior citizens and your designation Mr. Pittock.

Stop collecting those fees you charge for keeping this three day sales pitch, and make sure that all seniors are warned in block letters on your website...

"This is not a financial services designation and holding this designation does not imply any level of skill or training in financial services. Senior Citizens should be wary of financial advisers advertising this designation as such and contact securities regulators or their Dept. of Insurance if they are unsure of the qualifications or licensing of such individuals"

Any comments made here by Mr. Pittock sound hollow and disingenuous without such a disclaimer on his website. This is easy, it'll take your website guru 30 seconds to type up this disclaimer and post the file... WELL, HOW ABOUT IT MR. PITTOCK??

We’ve come a long way – and I am not sure a good way – since Medicare was just Medicare. Now there are a range of choices. A recent Medicare notice did not explain much, but open enrollment is for those with Part C “Medicare Advantage” or Part D drug plans, the latter including most people with Medicare. Among the good news, a lot of the cost of those two programs are going down as a result of the Affordable Care Act, the new national health care program.

Here is what the pro-consumer, reliable Center for Medicare Advocacy (CMA) had to say (I am condensing and paraphrasing from time to time):

During "open enrollment" – the informal term for Annual Coordinated Election Period (ACEP) – Medicare beneficiaries can enroll in a Part D plan or change their Part D plan. Beneficiaries can also return to traditional Medicare from a Medicare Advantage (MA) plan, enroll in an MA plan, or change MA plans.

Even if you are satisfied with your plan in 2011, you still need to review your plan options for 2012. Part D and MA plans may have made changes to their coverage, provider networks and other plan features. Plan information for 2012 is available on the Medicare Plan Finder at www.medicare.gov.

Although Medicare considered allowing a Special Enrollment Period (SEP) for individuals who miss the December 7th deadline, the only one generally available is to switch to a top-rated Medicare Advantage plan. Therefore it is critical that beneficiaries be informed of this change in dates. In addition, those who miss the deadline should complain to CMS.

However, there are a number of specific special enrollment periods for a variety of circumstances. For more information, go to the CMA website from which this item was plagiarized:

http://www.medicareadvocacy.org/2011/09/annual-enrollment-starts-october-15-and-ends-december-7-for-medicare-part-c-part-d-plans/

From About.com. http://patients.about.com/od/medicare/f/medicare-open-enrollment.htm (get rid of the “soft-hyphen” in the middle of the word “open” to use this as a link or URL).

The Lincoln Box

1861: The Civil War Awakening, by Adam Goodheart, focuses on the period from the 1860 election to Lincoln’s special message to Congress on July 4, 1861. But even 382 pages, not including notes and bibliography, cannot cover that period very completely, so Goodheart highlights a few themes – the details of what happened at and around Fort Sumter, Elmer Elsworth, the first Union casualty, and his “Zouaves” volunteers, peace efforts, and Lincoln’s July 4 message.

Best of all, he is occasionally very, very funny. Early on he quotes one old well-known former South Carolina judge who opposed secession, dismissing his state’s move: “South Carolina is too small for a republic, and too large for a lunatic-asylum.”

The charm of the book is the light he throws on key incidents and people often referred to but briefly in most histories. He details developments at Ft. Sumter, including how a loyal Southerner, Maj. Robert Anderson, maneuvered to preserve the Union position. Pres. Buchanan’s pro-secessionist Secretary of War John Floyd in essence ordered Anderson, when still at the indefensible Ft. Moultrie, to surrender if attacked. But Floyd referred to “forts,” in the plural, which Anderson interpreted to include Sumter, and so under cover of darkness moved to the somewhat better location. He also throws light on tensions at Sumter – Anderson’s frustration with the lack of direction from the Lincoln administration, necessitated by its strategy, and the simmering doubts about Anderson by his staff, mostly northerners.

He ends with a close and appreciative reading of Lincoln’s July 4 message to Congress. From the start, Lincoln was keenly sensitive to the political requirements for maintaining the Union and he used that speech to plant the flag – where it belonged – in the preservation of representative government:

This is essentially a People’s context. On the side of the Union, it is a struggle for maintaining in the world, that form, and substance of government, whose leading object is, to elevate the condition of men - to lift artificial weights from all shoulders - to clear the paths of laudable pursuit for all - to afford all, an unfettered start, and a fair chance, in the race of life. Yielding to partial, and temporary departures, from necessity, this is the leading object of the government for wise existence we contend.

While abolitionists deplored the lack of focus on slavery, the pro-slavery forces understood that the call for “an unfettered start” for all “in the race of life” was a challenge to them.

Unionists will love the book. He is not gentle on Southern leaders’ defense of slavery, noting for example the utter illogic of reconciling the claim that slavery was benign with the deep and pervasive fear of slave uprisings. He is also dismissive, with good reason, of all of the abortive peace efforts, disconnected as they were to the underlying passions on both sides.

If you are an SNT trustee – or for that matter, a beneficiary or a relative or close friend of a trustee or a beneficiary – you might find Administering a Special Needs Trust – A Handbook for Trustees useful and/or troubling. It is published by the Special Needs Alliance, written by my esteemed and widely admired colleague, Robert Fleming (see www.elder-law.com), and provides an excellent brief review of the most important things the trustee of a special needs trust should know.

To get your FREE copy, contact the ever-reliable Sanja, by calling her at 240-403-4300 x 106 or e-mailing her at sp@ronmlandsman.com.

Ahora el siguiente guía “Administering a Special Needs Trust– A Handbook for Trustees”(Entendiendo la Administración de un Fideicomiso para Necesidades Especiales – Un Guía para Fideicomisarios) también esta disponible en español. Este guía puede que sea interesante o preocupante para aquellos que son fideicomisarios para Necesidades Especiales, beneficiarios, parientes, o amigos de un fideicomisario o beneficiario. Escrito por el reconocido y estimado colega Robert Fleming (visite www.elder-law.com) y publicado por el Special Needs Alliance (Alianza para Necesidades Especiales), el guía provee un excelente resumen de los datos mas importantes que todo fideicomisario de un Fideicomiso para Necesidades Especiales debe saber. Comuníquese hoy con Sanja llamando al 240-403-4300 x106 o por correo electrónico, sp@ronlandsman.com, para obtener su guía gratuita.

E lder and disability law firm – Ron M. Landsman, P.A., is an elder and disability law firm headed by Ron M. Landsman, who has worked in this area of the law since 1983. We represent older and disabled people, their families and advocates. The work we do includes estate, disability and retirement planning, probate, estate and trust administration, wills, trusts and powers of attorney, titling of assets and designation of beneficiaries, protective proceedings (guardianship and conservatorship), special needs trusts and public benefits – Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, and SSI.

S pecial Needs Alliance – Ron M. Landsman is a Maryland-D.C. member of the Special Needs Alliance, Inc., a nationwide network of attorneys especially knowledgeable about coordinating public benefits and private resources through different kinds of special or supplemental needs trusts. We and our colleagues assist disabled people, their families, estate attorneys and personal injury attorneys in enhancing the resources of disabled individuals – savings and investments, inheritances, settlements or judgments – by coordinating them with public benefits like SSI and Medicaid. We also manage such trusts or advise family members or bank trustees who manage them. For more information on the Special Needs Alliance, visit its website at www.specialneedsalliance.com.

P lease share Landsman’s Lagniappe with anyone interested in the elderly and disabled and their advocates. (That’s the whole point, besides the fun I have avoiding work.) You may copy and use anything in this newsletter, but if you don’t credit us at the outset, no fair blaming us later. If you do use anything from the newsletter, please, please, please let me know.

If you would like to get Landsman’s Lagniappe or you would like to change the form in which you receive it or want to be removed from our mailing list, please send an email to newsletter@ronmlandsman.com, or call Sanja Pirsl at 240-403-4300, ext. 106, or fax her at 240-403-4301. No charge; still that same Mr. Big Spender.

M ay-lis Manley, one of my senior colleagues, has joined the bagels-and-eggs circuit, sometimes speaking at our sort-of-quarterly seminars. She is much better looking (damning with faint praise is not my intent, though) and knows a lot of things I don’t, like getting benefits through the Developmental Disability Administration, among other things. She (and I) are available to talk on any number of topics, including some that we know about – Medicaid, Lincoln, planning for disability, DDA, Medicaid, planning for the disabled child, Medicaid, and that always lively topic, probate in Maryland and D.C., as well as Medicaid. If you are interested in having either (or both, if the price is right) of us speak, call Sanja Pirsl at 240-403-4300, ext. 106.

W e hope you find this to be a good newsletter, but it is not the same as legal counsel. A free newsletter is ultimately worth what it costs you; you rely on it at your own risk. Good legal advice includes a review of all of the fact of your situation, including many that may at first blush seem to you not to matter. The plan it generates is sensitive to your goals and wishes while taking into account a whole panoply of laws, rules and practices, many not published and, often, will reflect years of experience and judgment about what works and how and why. Whether it’s worth the cost is for you to decide although, unfortunately, usually not ‘til after the fact. This is just a free e-newsletter; some may think an overpriced one at that.